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Automotive industry

Automotive industry
News about the global automotive industry with a focus on developments that matter most for the China market.
CATL’s 2025 sales volume of lithium-ion batteries rose 39 per cent from the previous year. Photo: AFP
CATL

China’s CATL profit surges 42% as global market share soars to all-time high

Surging demand solidifies CATL’s position as world’s top EV battery manufacturer for ninth consecutive year.

Style Edit

Style Edit: BMW iX3 rewrites the EV rule book on range and sustainability

Electric & new energy vehicles

Iran war oil shock accelerates Southeast Asia’s EV revolution

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Electric & new energy vehicles

Top Chinese EV makers are selling more cars overseas than at home

Top EV makers such as BYD, Great Wall Motor and Chery are selling more cars in overseas markets than at home.

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Last month, BYD sold 100,600 units overseas, 53 per cent of its total. Photo: AFP
CATL

China’s EV battery leader CATL to step up use of AI in R&D: founder

Billionaire Robin Zeng Yuqun promises higher investment, touts ‘resilient supply chain and ecosystem’ driving export growth.

Electric & new energy vehicles

China should skip a step in self-driving cars, Xpeng CEO says

He Xiaopeng urges Beijing to clear way for a leap ahead in autonomous driving technology – a jump he promises to propose at the ‘two sessions’.

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Two Sessions 2026

Chinese officials, car executives may discuss capping EV output

As China’s EV industry faces slowing growth, officials may discuss capping output and boosting tech innovation to combat price wars.

Employees work on the assembly line of new energy vehicles at Zero Run’s plant in Jinhua, Zhejiang province. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Autonomous vehicles

Breakthrough or hype? How WeRide aims to edge rivals in crowded robotaxi field

WeRide says its world model has slashed costs to support global expansion, but investors question if it can deliver a lasting advantage.

Germany

BMW to trial humanoid robots at German factory, as China competition heats up

The two AI-powered Aeon robots – touted as being smart enough to make their own decisions – will work alongside human staff.

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Electric & new energy vehicles

China’s Geely bets on longer-range, faster-charging tech over fresh EV price war

‘We promise to compete based on technology, quality, brand, service and corporate ethics,’ Geely Auto CEO says.

Technicians are seen working at the assembly line of Geely Auto’s Changxing plant in Huzhou, eastern Zhejiang province. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Hong Kong transport

Hong Kong autonomous vehicle tests move up a gear with longer routes

Routes on the North Lantau trial will cover up to 43.2km, with more vehicles allowed to operate at the same time.

The route extensions cover Tung Chung and Sunny Bay on Lantau Island. Photo: Nora Tam
China-EU relations

Opinion | Germany’s outreach to China signals a reckoning, rather than a shift

The German chancellor realises that while China poses a long-term economic challenge, the United States is currently the more disruptive partner.

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Electric & new energy vehicles

Low-cost models dominate China EV sales, surpassing Tesla and BYD

Geely’s and Wuling’s sub-100,000 yuan battery EVs ranked first and second in mainland China last year, each selling over 400,000 units.

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Electric & new energy vehicles

China’s EV insurers move towards profitability on higher premiums, AI adoption

Chinese insurers are turning to AI as the technology cuts labour costs and enhances pricing accuracy.

Mainland insurers posted a combined loss of 5.7 billion yuan from underwriting EV policies in 2024. Photo: Reuters
Electric & new energy vehicles

Geely’s Zeekr shifts into Italy as China’s European EV push gathers speed

The carmaker is pressing ahead despite tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, betting on demand for high-spec models.

Zeekr is betting on European demand for high-spec models in its foray into Italy. Photo: Getty Images
Electric & new energy vehicles

Speed bump ahead: rising battery costs nudge Chinese drivers towards hybrids

Higher lithium prices and the end of incentives are reshaping China’s EV market, with hybrids emerging as a more practical option for many.

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Gold in Hong Kong

Copper, lithium unlikely to match gold’s gains as output rises: Goldman

Record gold prices have lifted sentiment across raw materials, but analysts expect differentiated returns as producers ratchet up output.

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Luxury cars

Andrea Zagato on the Capricorn 01, coachbuilder Zagato’s first hypercar

The project blends Italian design flair and German precision thanks to engineering firm Capricorn, known for McLaren, Porsche and Bugatti collabs.

The Capricorn 01 is Zagato’s first hypercar. It was created in partnership with the German engineering firm renowned for previous collabs with McLaren, Porsche and Bugatti. Photo: Handout
China-Latin America relations

Chinese steel hit with duties up to US$670 per tonne after Brazil dumping probe

Government anti-dumping investigation found Chinese imports were being sold at unfairly low prices, harming domestic producers.

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US-China trade war

Has Trump ceded EV market to China with latest string of policy shifts?

Analysts say rolling back regulations pushes US further towards petrol cars, discourages EV innovation, and gives China competitive edge.

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Artificial intelligence

Colour matters: how AI is changing car premiums and services in China

Car colour, driving habits and location influence insurance premiums, according to a digital solutions provider using ByteDance’s AI model.

Rush hour in Beijing. White vehicles are less likely to be involved in an accident, according to data from a digital solutions provider. Photo: AFP
Electric & new energy vehicles

Ford plans US$30,000 budget EV line to take on Chinese rivals

Ford shrinks battery size while extending driving range in bid to launch the new EV by 2027 for the same price as a conventional petrol car.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has called Chinese competition an “existential threat”. Photo: AP
Electric & new energy vehicles

Chinese cars now can’t be sold for less than it costs to make them

Regulator bans tactics that result in a net loss per vehicle after a 7 per cent drop in the average car price.

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Americas and the Caribbean

Why China’s BYD and Geely are eyeing Mexico’s idle auto plants

With Mexico’s auto sector battered by tariffs, Chinese investment offers a lifeline that threatens to inflame tensions with Washington.

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Electric & new energy vehicles

China’s efforts to control EV price war sees carmakers paying vendors quicker

Only a handful of the nearly 50 mainland China-based EV builders have been able to turn a profit amid the price wars.

An aerial drone photo taken on January 14, 2026, shows domestically produced vehicles for export at Yantai Port in east China’s Shandong Province. Photo: Xinhua
Electric & new energy vehicles

China’s EV sales boom runs short on battery life

EV price wars are heating up again in China as the end of stimulus measures dampens domestic demand.

Photo: ZUMA Press/TNS
China-Latin America relations

China becomes Brazil’s biggest vehicle exporter in January, surpassing Argentina

The shift ends more than three decades of Argentine dominance, built on Mercosur rules and geographic proximity to Brazil’s car dealers.

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Electric & new energy vehicles

Pony AI and Toyota roll out robotaxis in China’s autonomous drive push

Guangzhou-based Pony AI begins output of 1,000 autonomous cabs and targets a 3,000-unit fleet by the end of 2026 as it expands globally.

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